Columbus holds off Midfield, Ala., 35-34

The Columbus Falcons could have thrown in the towel when they lost the lead to the Midfield, Ala. Patriots Friday afternoon.

That didn't happen.

After holding the advantage for most of the game at the Humphrey Coliseum on the Mississippi State campus, Columbus trailed 32-30 with 4 minutes left in the game.

Brandon Porter scored five-straight points as the Falcons rallied for a 35-34 victory in the first game of the final day of the Travis Outlaw Slam Dunk at the Hump Christmas Tournament.

"This is what we want out of these guys going into next year, winning ballgames at crunch time," Columbus coach Sammy Smith. "Last year and two years ago, we would lose these games. We won this one. We didn't shoot free throws as well as we needed to, but we made up for it. When you only score 35 points and win a ballgame, that's kind of unbelievable. That tells you our defense was good."

The Falcons, who improved to 8-5, jumped out to a 14-7 lead after the first quarter, 19-14 at halftime and 30-24 after three quarters.

Midfield cut into the lead during the fourth quarter and gained its 32-30 advantage on a 3-point basket by Antoine Davis at the 4-minute mark.

Porter scored on a 3-point play with 2:41 remaining in the game to help Columbus regain the lead at 33-32, then he hit a pair of free throws to stretch the margin to 35-32.

The Patriots had chances down the stretch, but were unable to come up with the winning points.